Device for conditioning ores



April 22, 1930. J. P. RUTH, JR 1,755,273

DEVICE FOR CONDITIONING ORES Filed Feb. 11, 19 29 3mm yfld efi jam l adapted Patented Apr. 22, 1930 I it JosErH-r. RUTH; 113., or DENVER, c oLonAJJo .o I

: nnvrcnfron CONDITIONING onus H Application fiIed FebruaI-y 1 1, 193a 7 Serial no. 3393551; 7

e This'inventi'on relates to improvements in cond tioning dGVlCGS for use n the treatment of ores.

' In the process of separating the mineral 5 values from the 'gangue of ore pulps, espe cially when flotation separation is employed,? it isnecessary to condition the ore beforeit is deliveredto the flotation machines. The' conditioning 'of the ore ;is eifected'by means 10 of,- chemicals with whichgthe' ore is brought into contact and with which it is kept in con- ;tact for a certain length of time. This-con- ;ditioning is a continuous process and, it, is ,-necessary to be able to adjust the partsso as to maintain the ore in contact with the chemicals for the length of time necessary to get the best results and as this time varies for different ores, it is necessary to employ an apparatus that is provided with means by which the time maybe changed to fit the conditions." v r a v The conditioning apparatus to which this invention relates, comprises a; reception tank having two compartments,'one; of which is to receive the ore pulp to be treated and'the other of which is adapted to receive the pulp after it has" been treated. These compartments are; separated by a partition provided with an adjustable weir by means of which the two compartments are put 1nto 1 communication with each other. A'large conditioning tank is placed'adjacentthe; reception tank withits top above the top of the reception tank. Means comprising a centrifugal pumpis' provided fortransferring pulp from the bottom of'the feed compartment to the top of the conditioning tank, an-d a launder is connected'with'the conditioning tank and hasits lower, end in communication 7 9, "with the deliverycompartment of the recep I V tiontank, so that any overflow from the eon- V ditioning.tankwillbeconducted tothe deliv-v 4 ery compartment of thelreception tank" from i which it can flowto" the flotation; machines 1 j through a; launder connected with this comvp artment. I I i 7 o A'pipe'is connected withthe bott'om'of'theconditioning tank and extends to the; delivery compartment-of the reception tank'for the I i 5- purpose of returning the heavy parts'of the bythe pin. the pulp to I V other launder v11 extends from the' delivery' e5 :pulpsto the reception tank', Bylmean's of the we1r a certain "proportion of the pulp i which is returned fromfthe conditioning tank I is returned'to the feed compartmentsoas' to be again circulated through the condition f- I m tank. By adjusting'i Weir portion of the pulp "'to be ireturned can be controlled and in'this' manner the-time-that the pulp is kept in contact with the chemicals can be adjusted so astoobtain the-best r esultsn r 1 Having thus'briefly described the invention the same will now be described in "detail and for this purpose reference will-be .had to-the:accompanying'drawing inflwhich the preferred embodiment of the invention hasbeen illustrated and in which:

' Fig. ,1 is a plan view showingthe reception and conditioning tanks and the .means for transferring pulp from one to the other;

Fig. '2 is a vertical section taken on line Fig. 3 is-a section through the reception, tank taken on line'33, Fig. 1.

, Inthe drawing numeral or foundation upon which the different parts I of the device are supported and'flrepresents the reception tank. This tank hasbeen illus- I trated as of rectangular shape and is provided V with a transverse partition 3 that separates so it into two compartments, Aand-B. Gom- 'partment A will be referred was a feed 'compartmentg while compartment B will bed'esv i 'ignated as the deliverycompartment The I partition is provided with a weir .4, the bot-T tom ofwhich is formed by, a gate 5-which is V slidable between the partition and the guides 6, This gate has an upwardly extending bar, 7 7 which'projects through a transverse beam 8 and which is perforated for the reception of a pin 9; 'Thegate can be adjustedverti- V callyand will be held'in adjusted position the feed comp artmentf and ancompartmena to the flotationmachines; The

conditioning [tank has been" designated by 1 reference numeral l2'and may be a wooden tank of stave construction. This tank is supe ported on'some'suitablesupports 13 withits f 1010 1 represents a floor its Alaunder 10 serves to'co'nduct bottom 14 at some distance above the level of the supporting floor. the tank is formed by a conical portion 15 which terminates in an opening 16. Secured in the opening 16 is a cross 17 to one opening of which a pipe 18 is connected. This pipe extends to a source of water under high pres-' sure and is provided with a control valve 19. To the opposite opening a pipe 20 is connected. This pipe extends to the delivery compartment of the reception tank and is provided with a valve 21 which controls the flow of pulp through this pipe. The bottom opening of the cross is provided with a removable plug 22for use in draining the tank. Pipe 20 is provided with a T 23 towhicht-the pipe 24 is connected. A valve 25 controls the flow through pipe 24- A. centrifugal pump 26 has its intake port connected with the lower end of compartment A by means of a pipe 27 and a pipe 28 extends from the outlet port of the pump to the top of the conditioning tank. The centrifugal pump'may be ofany.

well known make and is preferably operated by means of an electric motor 29. A launder 30 has its upper end connected with the'upper end of the conditioning tank at 31 and has its lower end in communication withthe delivery compartment B. p The delivery compartment is preferably. provided with a diagonal partition 32 with which the partition 33 connects in the manner shown in 3,

sure to enter from pipe 18 and to produce facilitates the flow of the pulp. The level of gate 5 is adjusted as above explained so as to return the desired proportion of the pulp to the feed compartment from which it will be mixed with the pulp from launder 10 and subjected .to another treatment in the condi- 7 tioning tank, in this manner the length of the The lower part of what may be termed an injector action which i will flow through the outlets provided there-- .From the above description it will beseen that I have produceda conditioning'device of a simple construction-by means of which ore pulp can be quickly and cheaplycon di- .tioned and'which is provided withmeans for varying the length of time thepulp is kept in contact with the chemicals so thatadju'st- .ments can be readily made to obtain the best results under the diflerent conditions met? with in actual practice.

Having described the invention what is so as to produce a shallow compartment of claimed as new is: r

rather small capacity. 1. A" conditioning device; comprising, in

Let us now assume that pulp is delivered combinationfa reception tank divided into" 1100 fected. When. the level-of the pulp in the conditioning tank reaches, the line 34 it will start overflowing throughthe launder 30 into the delivery compartment B. As compartment B fills up, some ofthe pulp will flow through the weir back into the feed compart- .ment, while the-remaining part of the pulp will flow through the launder 11 to the fiotation machine. By opening valve 21, a portion of the pulp from the conditioning tank will be returnedto the delivery compartment through pipe 20. 1t is-evident that when the pulp isdelivered to the conditioning tank through pipe 28, that it will cause a considerable amount of agitation which will tend to maintain the smaller particles in suspension, and these will therefore return to the reception tank by way of launder 30. v The two compartments by means of a transverse V partition, means for delivering ore pulp to one of the said compartments, a" conditioning tank, means for transferring-pulp from the bottom of the'reception co'mpar-tmentto the" top ofthe conditioningtank, means for transferring pulp from the bottom of the conditioning ta'nkto the othercompartment :of the reception tank, means forconducti-ng overflow from the top ofit-heconditioning" -tank to the last named compartment-,aweir in the'wall between the twofcompartments'of thejreception tank and means for adjusting.

the height of the weir andan overflow from the second n'amed'compartment. i 1 y Y 2. A conditioning device comprising, in 'combination, a reception tank divided into two compartments by means of a transverse 'partition, one of said c'ompartments beingf adaptedto receive the pulp tobe'treatedthe other compartment being .adapted to receive the treated pulp, a conditioning tank, means for transferring thepulp from the firstjmerh heavierparticles will settle to thebottomof tioned Pfi tIHG lt to the. q dit n g the tank and will be returnedthrough pipe 20. In order to facilitate the flow of the heavy pulp from the bottom of the conditioning tank, valve 19 may be opened which permits a stream of Water under high presond named compartment -andganadjustable fweir in the partition between the two comd partments.

' delivery compartment adapted to receive the V 3; A conditioning device for the treatment ofores comprising, in combination, a reception tank having a feed compartment adapted to receive the pulp to be treated and a treated pulp, said compartments being sep- V r a is at'a higher levelthan that of the reception tank, a launder extending from'the top arat ed by a partition provided with an adiustable weir, a conditioningtank whose top of the conditioning tank to the delivery comapartment of the receptiontank, a discharge launder connected with the delivery; compartment,means for transferring pulp from the bottom of the feed compartment to the iception tank,

conditioning tank and means for conducting pulp from the bottom of the conditioning- :the treated'pulp, said compartments being separated by a partition provided with an adjustable weir, a conditioning tank whose top is at a higher level than that of the rea launder extending from the top of the conditioning tank to the delivery compartment of the reception tank, a discharge launder connected withthe delivery compartment, means for transferring pulp from the bottom of the feed compartment to V the conditioning tank, means for conducting pulp from the bottom of the conditioning tank to the delivery'compartment andmeans v for introducing water under pressure into the bottom of the conditioning tank.

5. A conditioning device comprising, in combination, a reception tank,- a conditioning tank, means for delivering pulp to the recep- 7 tion tank, means for transferring the pulp V a from the reception tank, to the conditioning tank, means for returning the pulpto'the i reception tank and means for separating the returned 'pulpintotwo streams, and for returning one of said streams to the conditioning tank.

V V In testimony whereof I alfix my signature; 7 v

JOSEPH P, RUTH,;JR.'

as i 

